Rural Electrification Sources Behind the Story

	Source: Rural Electrification Administration: Electricity Comes to the Farm By George Martin This article describes one man's experiences installing REA power lines in the 1930s. These lines were built in rural Otter Tail County in West Central Minnesota. The power lines that George Martin worked on were similar to those pictured. Power line construction in rural America brought electricity to farmers and jobs to workers like George Martin who were hard hit by the Great Depression.
"In 1938, after graduating from high school, I ... started working for a power line contractor who was building REA lines. ... "When I drove to the power line contractor's field office, for my first job at 35 cents per hour, I noticed miles of new poles installed along the roads. The poles were in straight lines, plumb and tamped in. ... "[F]raming crews consisting of groundmen installed crossarms and hardware to the poles on the ground. Linemen primarily strung conductors and hung transformers. "Digging the holes for REA poles was a fast moving operation. The digging foreman would haul approximately eight men into the field on a flatbed truck. ... "[He] would drop off a digger with his tools ... at every sixth pole stake. When the digger had his five holes dug, he would be moved to a new location ahead on the line. ... "Soon diggers used five foot shovels and heavy-duty post hole diggers with eight foot handles. ... "The digging crew worked ten hours a day, no overtime, at 35 cents per hour. In addition to the regular wage, a digger could earn this bonus: 10 holes per day=5 cents per hole 15 holes per day=7.5 cents per hole 20 holes per day=10 cents per hole "In good soil a digger could average between twelve and eighteen holes in a ten hour shift. In 1939, 10 cents per hole was powerful motivation."
Source of the Source: George Martin, "Rural Electrification Administration: Electricity Comes to the Farm," Otter Tail Record (Published by the Otter Tail County Historical Society) 15:2 (1996): 1-4.
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